Skylar Grayson's Story

Black blood oozed from the beast like pus from an infected wound. It flowed to the ground, leaving its mark on the earth. Autumn blinked, not sure if she was grateful or disgusted. She let out a slow and tentative breath, as if to test if it was alright. So far, so good. If she could breathe, then perhaps she could walk. Her unsteady steps seemed less difficult than before as she slowly tried to make her way out of the park.

The beast shattered into onyx shards like glass falling from a broken window. It was a pitiful death to be sure. This terrifying creature was left as nothing but a pile of tiny black stones on dead leaves. Autumn didn’t even question how such a thing could happen. She could only think of how it sapped away her fear. There was nothing scary about tiny stones.

Her steps grew steadier as she tried to pass the scene. She was definitely going home. No need to stay around here. She stopped, however, as her necklace pressed harder against her skin. Underneath her coat and sweater, it was supposed to be warm. Instead, it felt like ice. The piercing cold dug into her like knives, forcing her to hug herself tightly to try to ease the pain. She let out a sharp gasp, doubling over as the unnatural chill tormented her. This deathly cold, it went straight to the bone. There was no shivering, only pain.

The world started to fade, white erasing the skyscrapers. Perhaps this was a side effect of the pain. Was she dying? Surely a cold necklace couldn’t kill someone. Through squinted eyes she surveyed her disappearing surroundings. The whiteness was closing in, engulfing the world in emptiness.

She closed her eyes, hoping it would go away. Maybe this was a dream. She would wake up at home in her nice bed, surrounded by stuffed animals and posters of her various interests. Her eyes would fall upon the picture of her and her friends and she would know she was safe. Oh, how she wished this was the case.

The pain left just as quickly as it had arrived, leaving her both relieved and confused. Cautiously, she opened her eyes and stood up. The world was black now, a more discomforting nothingness. Autumn bit her lip. Maybe this wasn’t a dream. Maybe she wasn’t dying. Maybe she was already dead and this was simply her journey.
She looked around. Most of the people from before seemed to be there.

Before her was a golden pillar of light. Heaven perhaps? Autumn had never really given Heaven much thought. She had always believed in regeneration. Would she get in even if she didn’t believe? Had she sinned too much? Was she hellbound? Trying to communicate with the dead wasn’t a sin, was it? She tried to think of the seven deadly sins. Which ones had she committed? Gluttony. That was for sure. She wasn’t a whale, but she was certainly chubby.

Before she could worry any more than that, a path revealed itself. Tiny dots of white light, stars of varying shapes, formed beneath her feet. Beneath them, an ocean in the middle of a storm. Autumn stared at it for a moment, entranced. Perhaps she wasn’t a sinner after all. This was too pretty to be hell. She almost wanted to touch them, just to see if they would respond. Above her, white birds flew in various directions. Her eyes followed one of them as it soared to the vortex behind her. Surely, that had to be hell.

The star path lit up brighter as a voice spoke. “Welcome to The Core.”

She sounded godlike, beautiful and wise. The feeling was inexplicable. It was as if her body simply wouldn’t let her feel anything but whatever this was. It wasn’t quite positive, yet it was nowhere near negative. One could describe it as neutral, but there was too much emotion there for it to be so. Warm perhaps? Trusting?

Autumn listened intently as the woman spoke. At least this wasn’t Heaven or Hell. Though this all sounded outlandish, she didn’t question it. Perhaps this was due to her wanting to believe in such things. Perhaps the voice was simply too convincing. Or, perhaps, she just liked being called special.

A demi god. It sounded nice. In fact, the whole story sounded nice. Gods, powers, stones. There was, of course, the fear of these “Cyclopeans”. But to be revered, to be a god, it sounded wonderful. Frightening, but wonderful. As the story continued, and Autumn finally caught on, she found it a little less positive. Her destiny was really to fight those creatures? How was she expected to fight them? She couldn’t even move when she saw one!

Still, there were people depending on her. If this was real, and she honestly couldn’t think of how anyone could fake this, then she would be dooming millions of people. It was a terrifying, and also a little flattering, thought. She gulped.

Her eyes looked upwards as she thought it over. Assuming this was real, there were two worlds at stake. Hers, and this “Aires”. If she were to go home, she would not only be keeping the rest of the group from fighting but she would also be allowing the worlds to fall to ruin. The Cyclopeans would invade and her world would die. Then again, the military would surely get involved. They would figure out how to kill those things soon enough. But would the war end? On the other hand, if she were to go to Aires, she would become a demi god. She would gain powers and be revered. Of course, she would have to fight the Cyclopeans. Still, superpowers. Finally, she decided to go to Aires. It was better than waiting for her world to burn.

Others started making their choices. The other blonde opted to go home, which appeared to be Aires. Well, that explained how she knew what the Cyclopean was. Others agreed to the terms, saying they would go to Aires. There was one, however, who chose to go home.

“Wait.” Autumn said, walking up to him. “You can’t leave now. You heard what she said, it’s all or nothing. If you go, then none of us can help either world.” She reached for his arm, trying to stop him. “What about the people back home? They’ll die without our help! Are you really willing to risk millions of lives just because you don’t want to do anything? Do you really have no one you want to protect?” She protested, though her voice remained steady.

Everything happened in matters of mere minutes, shattering a once peaceful day that almost signaled the end to a near perfect vacation. The people flocked to the park like some unheard call had lured them step by step into the trap that sprung the moment the strange blonde was encountered. The appearance of the monster, its slaying and the scattering of what was left brought a chill to the warmth of the autumn sun. Onyx stones that glinted hard and cold amongst the autumn leaves that made the park beautiful at this time of the year.

The brunette that was called here by that same instinctive lure watched all that had happened from afar. A small twinge of ice radiated against her wrist, the worst of the pain emanating right where the turquoise stone pressed into her skin. The image of everything around her, flashing and fading to white to only be replaced with the spectral like area around them. When the woman appeared, speaking a greeting, the one who had kept silent stepped closer to listen.

As dialogue was exchanged, more information filtered into the mind of the watcher, her nutmeg eyes glinting with some emotion be it pride, hunger, or lust. It was hard to tell. A coy smile curled its way onto her rosette bows, deft fingers brushing through the chocolate curls that rested on the pretty little head of the female that had kept quiet. A demigod? Now... that is better than Lead Actress! And that weird monster... so that was what the woman meant by a 'cyclopean'...interesting. The thought brought an entertained chuckle from the seventeen year old. Her fingers curled around the bracelet at her left wrist, her coy smile twisting up further.

People depended on her! This was the most exciting thing to happen to her! Lux couldn't help but let another chuckle escape her, feeling nearly light headed from all of this! Imagine me, Lux Adair, a demigod! Someone that people depended on protecting! More and more thoughts of the same nature dashed across Lux's mind, allowing her to keep her silence. However, she knew what she was going for.

With sure steps, the brunette allowed her feet to carry her across the crystalline path towards the portal that would lead to the world called Aires. Where she was to be the hero, but... Lux stopped in her tracks, her eyes glancing over the others she was supposed to work with. Another one had went to talk to the male that seemed to be staying behind or indecisive. It did not matter what he was to Lux, but it appeared that even if she went ahead, nothing would be done if he didn't follow. Perhaps it would be best to wait for them? It must be suicide to walk into a world she knew nothing of alone, when she had these others to have her back.

"Do you really have no one you want to protect?"

Harper froze mid-step at those words. His eyes widened briefly as he thought of his sister, Sadie...she was the only person who had ever cared about what he wanted, who actually cared about him, and she was also the only person he ever cared about.

With an exasperated exhale out his nose, Harper spun around slowly on the inhale. Exhaling into an annoyed smile, Harper looked down at the blonde girl.

"Look, you," he said in an irritated tone, "This game that you're trying to pull, this guilt-tripping, reverse psychology bullshit? Whatever it is, it's not gonna work. Even if we all help, who says it's gonna work? You heard the lady: attempt to subdue or suppress or stifle or whatever she said. Not eradicate. Not annihilate. Not "get rid of the problem entirely". And there's not even a guarantee our attempt will pay off. An attempt is like a half-assed try"

A quote from his father right there.

Harper continued, "I'm not about to throw away my life on the slim chance that it'll prevent something that apparently is bound to happen anyways. I would much rather, on the other hand, use the remaining time we have before the cyclowhatevers invade Earth, which sounded like a decent amount of time to me, to build up on some ammo and home defense to prepare against them. Oh, and also to spend some quality time with the one person I actually want to protect, who I have a date with in two hours for ice cream, so if you'll excuse me, I will be off."

With that, he turned around and resumed walking towards the blue portal. "Besides!" he exclaimed, throwing up his hands, "How do we know this isn't just some elaborate stage performance? We're in New York City! That Cyclowhats it was probably just a man in a costume, or an animatronic!"

Black blood began to burble from the wound, gushing and spurting from the incision, decorating the grass beneath its feet and, unfortunately, Dorian as well. He winced, shutting one eye as the black ooze sprayed onto his face, but dug the blade further in, twisting it once more for good measure because the dry-cleaning bills were going to be awful, but a few extra dollars spend on laundry were preferable to death. Then the most remarkable thing happened, and, for the first time since this unfortunate adventure had started, remarkable was actually the appropriate word. He could hear it, an audible sort of crackle as the monster began to harden before his very eyes before shattering, onyx shards flying everywhere leaving Dorian standing where he was, panting, painted with blood, knife still posed where it had been before the creature had promptly exploded.

This was too unreal. This was insane. He'd just- there had just been… A monster had dragged itself out from a hole in the earth underneath a tree, run rampant in Central Park, and Dorian had just killed it. Probably. He'd just… He'd just killed something, something unearthly, violent, and over eight feet tall. His hands shook, but he stood frozen, dazed, unable to move for just a moment. That is before a white handkerchief was thrust in front of his face, breaking the spell as he whirled around. No, it as just that boy from earlier offering up the cloth in combination with a muttered apology. To be honest, Dorian didn't hear most of it, the apparent apology muffled by the sound of his heart beat still thundering in his chest.

"I…It's fine," He finally choked out, taking the handkerchief with a trembling hand and pressing it against his nose, wiping slightly and doing more harm than good as he smeared the two colors of blood together before tilting his head backwards, closing his eyes with a deep, shuttering breath. So he didn't see his beloved New York City skyline begin to vanish, erased by a disturbing blankness blanketing the city, muffling for a time every one of the senses. When he did finally open his eyes, to his horror it was to the last of the trees disappearing, the grass beneath his feet not far behind. The bracelet on his wrist was throbbing now, but not terribly uncomfortably, and he clung to the sensation as the world apparently ended around him, erasing it or possibly him from existence. It was dark now. He couldn't see his hand in front of his face, even the one still clutching the now stained handkerchief. Just… nothingness until a brief glimmer of light appeared on the the horizon and slowly, slowly sensation came back. There were lights beneath his feet, fashioned like stars in the heavens above- or perhaps they were stars, he couldn't tell- and the sound of flapping wings, the gentle cooing of birds flying overhead, towards two swirling vortexes, just now making their presences known. And then, there was a voice.

It wasn't just any voice, it was a precise, beautiful voice, tone equal parts soothing and authoritative. And it didn't stop there- that magnificent voice was spinning a magnificent tale more fit for a best-selling fiction novel than the reality he existed in. Then, as suddenly as it had begun, there was silence, the star path dimming visibly leaving all twelve with a choice. Some didn't take long at all to make up their minds, wandering through the portal into the unknown or, as Dorian began to realize in the case of the girl from the tree, into the only world she knew. Others made uncertain declarations then and there, some heroic like the Southern boy, and others less so, like the dripping wet local demanding answers that Dorian was certain would never come. And then it was like all progress was frozen. Even those who had said they were going were still loitering around, either hesitant to go alone or too nervous that someone would stay behind. If it were the second case, they had a right to worry.

Even after one of the girl's- the one who'd checked on the girl in the tree(and, really, he wished that he knew their names to make all of this much more simple)- impassioned protest, no one seemed too convinced. There was that New York boy's attempt to force rationality on a very irrational situation, another girl- the one he'd saved- expressing her doubts that this was even real. All of their voices were breaking the silence at once, swirling together in whines and declarations and Dorian, who had just killed a monster with only a pocket knife, had a possibly broken nose that was still gentle trickling blood and hurt like Hell, and who had had a very bad day even before this whole disaster, had enough.

"You want to know if this is real?" His voice echoed in the otherworldly cavern, something halfway between a sneer and a frown frozen on his face. "See this blood on my face? On my hands? On this knife?" He was illuminated in the cold starlight, black blood evident as it stained his features and body alongside his own violent red, holding his pocketknife up for all to see. "I killed that- that thing back there, stabbed it between the ribs, felt this blade go through its scales as it screamed, was sprayed with black blood, and felt it disintegrate beneath my hands into little shards, so I think I would know if it was fucking real." His bracelet was throbbing now to match his elevated heartbeat, warm upon his wrist.

"I don't give two shits about the rest of you, but this is an all or nothing deal, and if you're too much of a coward to try to save your own planet, to save the people that you want to protect, that's your own problem, don't make it mine. This is the deal; we go through that portal and try to stop whatever the Hell is happening before it happens on our planet and puts everyone at risk, or someone goes home because they're too scared to even try and you've fucked two planets over, your loved ones included. I'm sure none of you want that on your conscience, and it's sure as Hell not going on mine." Not once did his voice crack, keeping his tone at somewhere between a cold monotone and a harsh whisper as if too afraid to speak loudly in the Core.

"And if it's a hoax, and I highly doubt that any of you believe that right now, what have you got to lose? Your dignity? If that's the case, then any dignity that you had is long gone by now. I refuse to let any cowards get my family or me killed when we could have done something to prevent it."

There was silence for a moment before Dorian spoke again, an aching tiredness in his voice. "Look, I just had to murder a giant monster with a pocket knife. Just go through the damn portal."

Harper ignored the guy, continuing to walk up to the blue portal, hands in pockets and mentaling "lalalaican'thearyou"-ing.

But when the guy started telling everyone what to do, then Harper finally stopped. And not out of obedience.

If Harper had been irritated before, which he was, now he was supremely pissed off. And on the verge of anger. "Listen, you," Harper snapped, marching over to the taller boy, "I don't give "two shits" about being called a coward or scared. Or about any stains on my conscience. Or about "dignity". But I do give A LOT OF SHITS about being told what to do! Especially by some snotty, twiggy, kid who only happens to be taller than me through genetics. There is no deal, Capische? I would much rather spend whatever remaining time we have with my sister and making plans for our survival with ample time and no immediate risk of dying than wasting it on some futile "attempt" to stop something that'll probably kill us two seconds into that portal."

He took a breath.

"As for it not being a hoax," he continued with the same amount of pissed-off, "You ever seen a movie, son? Ever been to a play with gore and violence? If it was an animatronic they could have easily filled it with fake blood that evaporates or disintegrates quickly. Or maybe you were just tripping balls. EITHER WAY, I don't give a damn what you think or what you think you can tell me to do. I am NOT going, this is stupid, it's suicide, it's fake, and you need to f***ing deal with it!"

The slap stung the lower half of his face, causing him to bite his tongue, both literally and figuratively. He had been slapped by girls before, but never this hard!

If it had been a guy who slapped him, Harper would have certainly returned the favor, and then some. But he didn't hit girls, so instead he just stood there, stunned and in pain as this blond girl, the one who had fallen out of the tree and undoubtedly caused all this, lectured him further on what an asshole he was and how immature he was acting and how unreasonable he was being even though everyone else seemed to have no regard for their own lives. Basically, things he already knew. In fact, the only thing he was really thinking about, besides feeling angry, was that the monster was called a cyclopean.

Some other guy pitched in, calling him an idiot and preaching about his philosophy on life. Seriously, these people all looked younger than him, from what he remembered. And they were lecturing him?

"I'm not an idiot!" he shouted, but before he could continue he felt the collar of his shirt yanked forward. He yelped, not just because he was now being dragged towards the wrong portal by a girl much shorter than him, but also because his necklace had slipped past his shirt and onto his bare skin, scalding him.

"Stop, you...crazy...bitch!" Harper hollered as he tried to undo just the pearl ring. The cord was still wet and he had already forgotten about the small knife in his jacket pocket. Giving up on his necklace, he tried to pry the girl's fingers off his shirt, but her grip was strong. Finally, two feet away from the portal, he leaned backwards as far as he could, planting his feet in front of him and slowing down her progress as he applied more resistance.

"All of you...are crazy!" he panted, "You know, two can play this guilt game. You all are what, high school students? You wanna talk responsibility? How bout rent to pay? Food to buy? Jobs to work? You guys probably live with your parents still and don't have to worry about that shit, but I do. Anyone gonna pay for all my new shit once I get evicted because I haven't paid my rent? Anyone gonna give me a new job once I get fired because I haven't shown up? Anyone gonna explain to my sister how come I went missing all of a sudden? And speaking of, how long do you think we'll be in this stupid mythical lord of the rings world? A day? Weeks? Months? If everything's in real time, do you really want your parents or whoever your loved ones are to worry about you for that long? What if it's some inception shit and one second in there is like a day on Earth? Huh?!"

Harper glared at everyone as best he could before finally spitting out, "You guys are just kids. You think I'm the selfish one? You guys don't even pay taxes. Look at all of you. So eager to "save the world." This isn't Avengers. You guys all have frikkin superiority complexes or something."

Damn, this girl was good...

He had been formulating his own comeback and eventual dash back to the blue portal while the girl had talked, but once she mentioned his sister...

The part of him that thought the cyclopean was fake tried to reason with him once more, but that image....he imagined the silver chain with the cello charm she often wore ripped off and covered in blood. He had been planning on taking her to his apartment in Boston, which he would have turned into a shelter. But...if he kept up his current track record and failed once more...if a cyclopean broke through and attacked...

The disappointment he imagined on Sadie's face in a few hours by the ice cream parlor killed him, but the image of her being dismembered before his eyes was something he couldn't handle.

"I hate all of you," with a hard swallow he glared at the blonde girl as intensely as he could manage. "Fine...bitch...I'll go through this stupid portal. But don't you think, and don't any of you think" he shouted to the rest of them, "That I'm doing this for any of you, or because you guys told me to. As what's his face said so eloquently, I don't give "two shits[i]" about any of you or who you think you are. I'm deciding for [i]myself whether to go in or not, and that's for one reason only."

He turned back to the girl, and narrowed his eyes even further. "Only one reason," he hissed. Fists clenched, he turned his glare to the yellow portal and stomped through.

Jason rubbed the back of his head as the whole fiasco played out. When the first blond said something to the annoying guy, he'd stopped and turned back. She's right. We all have to go.

As the dark haired guy and the annoying guy started going at it, he felt his blood start to boil. Who the hell does this guy think he is, talking like he knows everything? It's freaking annoying. But, whereas Jason made a decision to go to this other world on a whim, not really thinking it over, they're words made him think it through carefully. Overthink it really. . His hands balled into fists, emotions clear on his face like always. His ring was on fire, and he was seriously wanted to break that annoying guy's jaw if he didn't shut up.

Why the hell were they all being so freaking serious and arguing about this, huh? Everything was a clear black and white here, there weren't any gray areas. The pain from his ring and the "pull" he felt towards the other world were definitely real. And the whole deal with the cyclopean things... How could any of them ignore it? Not feel it?

Who cares if there's a possibility that they could fail? That this was impossible? What's the harm in trying? If they try and fail, that just means they got the same result as if they didn't try. Everyone dies. But if there's even the slightest possibility that they might succeed, might stop these things, even if they're only able to suppress them... Isn't it better to try and reach for that one little possibility rather than not trying at all? Giving up gets you nowhere.

He sighed. All of this should be simple. Besides, if you think about it, the voice said the stones chose them because their souls were compatible or something. If that's the case... do they really have a choice, or is having a choice here just some fanciful delusion?

The arguing was really starting to get on his nerves, and the annoying guy was acting like a kid yet calling everyone else the kids. Jason was about to say something, but stopped as the tree girl ran past him and slapped the annoying dude, following up by making him see reason and what he thought as her putting him in his place. He shook his head as the dude stomped by him into the portal, followed by a few others, but smirked a bit thinking of the guy's surprised expression when she'd slapped him. With a glance back at the others still present, Jason walked through the portal more relaxed than he should be.

Tallyho pulled herself from the palm of the valley—warm and grassy. She looked a short distance to see a spot of yellow on green pasture.

“My basket,” she huffed, “as she rose to her feet, tip toeing and leaping over the other teens that were sprinkled in the grass like a scattered set of marbles.

The blonde bent over and hooked the edge of the basket with her finger, flipping it over. Brown apples toppled out onto the grass and she wrinkled her nose at the stench.

How long was she gone?

She idly wandered over to the group, scanning their faces to see if they were awake.

“Ok…Well…I guess I’m going to town now,” hummed. Her voice trembled with uncertainty, mostly because she wasn’t quite sure if they were dead or not. Maybe their earthly lungs were too fragile for the air or something.

“Well uh… If you aren’t going to wake up…” she hummed as she took a few steps back.

“You’re not leaving that easily,” an unfamiliar voice echoed.

Tallyho looked around hastily to find the source of the voice.

“Over here,” he said.

Her gaze ran up to the top of the hill—where a mysterious ginger was perched, squatting and gazing down into the valley like a predatory bird—and wasn’t it ironic that a fine white owl sat at rest on his shoulder? It was almost a little patronizing, like some sort of socioeconomic portrait. Here was this man on a high hill, well composed, quite handsome, and well dressed, looking down into the valley at a flushed-faced vagabond, who was shoeless and had a record of stealing sips of liquor in taverns.

He stood up straight.

The blonde eyed his fine back pants, and his golden embroidered admiral trench coat—heavy with medallions and gold encrusted buttons. His fine jacket hung over one shoulder, his thin cotton blouse an elegant contrast. He pulled a smoking stick from his mouth, tossed it into the grass, then ground it into the dirt with his polished black shoe.

His bright eyes swam through the valley of bodies, like a shark weaving and wavering this way and that, looking for the right sea lion to snatch.

“Well that was a very dramatic show back there,” the redhead rasped, a slight chuckle escaping from his lips.

Tallyho offered her best poker face a technique she nearly mastered.

“What are you laughing at?” she finally asked.

“You people,” he hummed as he regained his composure, and calmly made his way down the hill. Tallyho moved a step back as he came, not pausing until he made a complete stop.

“You are all so melodramatic.”

“What’s that supposed to mean?”

“’ You wanna talk responsibility? How bout rent to pay? Food to buy? Jobs to work? You guys probably live with your parents still and don't have to worry about that shit, but I do,’ ‘Nothing is certain, nothing except death,' ’A weakling on Aires, is a weakling Earth,’ honestly, you people are really made for each other. But for future reference, don’t take so long in the core. If it’s open for too long, the universe might collapse, you're welcome.”

His laugher faded and he idly reached to scratch the back of the owl’s head.

“Okay so who are you supposed to be again?” Tallyho asked, eyebrows straight, poker face still valid.

“Now how did I forget to introduce myself? My name is Haru Karokav, the first guide on this journey of ours.”

“Guide… What—“

Without asking, Haru Karokav drew close and took a hold of Tallyho’s amethyst. Though his approach was gentle, Tallyho nearly choked herself because she drew back sharply and he never let go.

“What are you doing?” She huffed as she rapidly lost her cool—beginning to wonder if he were some pervert or jewel thief—or both.

But the expression on his face was quite serious as he observed. He dropped the stone back collar bone. Then he drew back.

“Ah so she’s my kid then… Isn’t that interesting, Lillian?” he hummed as he stroked the owl once more.
“Hey, aren’t there supposed to be twelve of you…? It seems that the March Warrior was mis-transported,” the redhead sighed, “Lillian, why don’t you send word up to Ryou?”

Tallyho stared at him, her jaw slightly open.

“What?”

Skylar couldn’t help but smirk as the tiny blonde smacked the boy from earlier across the face. She’d have to thank her for it later; the girl had some serious spunk. The boy, on the other hand, was being completely unreasonable. He had no right to spew such nonsense when he had no idea what any of the others were going through. Sure, he may have had a lot on his plate, but how was he to know that others didn’t have it worse of?

Watching as he accepted defeat and trudged through the portal, a tiny part of Skylar wished he’d get ripped apart by a Cyclopean at some point in their journey.

The trip from the Core to Aires was much less stressful than the previous one, Skylar opening her eyes to a bright blue sky and luscious green grass. The warmth of the sun felt good on her skin and she found herself smiling, a weird sense of calmness settling over her despite the impending doom of the Cyclopeans or whatever the voice in the Core had been talking about.

Turning at the sound of yet another new voice, Skylar listened to the exchange between Haru (finally, someone who had actually introduced them self!) and the blonde. His tone was condescending as he mocked them, something that Skylar was already used to from growing up with her brothers. Fighting the urge to tell him off, she figured that if he was going to be their “guide” it would probably be best to stay on his good side for the time being.

“So, uh,” She said, brushing her bangs away from her face. “Now what happens?”

“Well now we head on into town, get you all rested, fed, and then I’ll give you a little orientation to the situation,” the redhead hummed.
“What were you saying before?” Tallyho asked. “What do you mean by ‘a guide’?”

“What do I mean by guide? Well to answer that I must continue to introduce myself. I’m Haru Karokav, yes, you know that. But I failed to mention that I am one of the 12 chosen guardians. The guardians are… Eh, hand-picked by the goddess to assist the month warriors, and protect them. If anything happens to any of you, then it’s our responsibility. I just so happen to be your guardian—the guardian of February. But this is a team effort. Even though your own guardians haven’t shown up yet, it is my responsibility as the leader to be a guardian to all of you.”

He frowned. “Well I’m not sure when the others will be showing up… It could be months, maybe later, even. Either way, you’re going to have to trust that you are in good hands with me. I will provide you with all of your housing, your food, and the proper training. All you really need to do is try not to piss me off, as I’d prefer to stay pleasant this early in the game. Well! I think that we should probably get to the nearest village and get to an inn. The sun will be setting soon and we wouldn’t want to risk another cyclopean attack.”

Haru turned sharply and began to walk away.

“Wait,” Tallyho called. “So you’re a guardian but… You don’t look very… Well, you don’t look like a seasoned fighter at all. I’m not sure if—“Tallyho paused when Haru made a discreet movement—a slight flick of his coattail revealed a fine sword mounted on his belt.

Despite how easy it was to get swords on Aires, the better swords were usually reserved for those who knew how to use them well.

“We guardians are… A lot older, and a lot more experienced than we look. If you have any more questions, you might want to learn how to walk and talk,” he hummed.

Tallyho hesitantly followed. She wanted to hear what he had to say about the prophecy, and what did she have to lose by following him? He offered free meals, and she was certainly starving. They didn’t move very far at all before Haru began to feed them more information about the situation, a subtle bait to lure any of the kids who weren’t too sure about following such an unusual man.

He began by explaining guardians some more.

“Believe it or not, we guardians are in a sense, beasts. Each of us has the ability to change into a certain animal. I suppose the goddess gave these forms to us based on our personalities—“

“A rat?” Tallyho hummed under her breath.

“A cat—smartass—a cat,” he hummed, although his voice held no malice. Perhaps because he didn’t feel like it was the right time to get serious and intense.

He stopped.

“Oh right, I saw that you all failed at introducing yourselves. I’ll do it for you,” he said. He pointed at each warrior in the order of their month followed by a synopsis of their ability.

“This is Gwenneth Yuan, the warrior of January. January can manipulate the force of life. Healing, and in extreme scenarios, revival.

Tallyho Abell is February, a manipulator of electricity and lightning. However, it’s ironic that she’s from such a low-tech place like Aires since she could really be an effective technopath.

Dorian Roberts—your friend who has been misplaced—is the warrior of March and holds power over wind and storms.

Kyle Keaton is April and a manipulator of water—specifically fresh water.

Skylar Grayson—the warrior of May—can manipulate plants, animals, rock and soil.

Harper Fields is June, and like Kyle, he is a man of water. However, he takes to the sea and salt water instead.

Aria Walker— is the warrior of July and has abilities over fire.

Jason Carter—August—controls illusions of light: Conjuring very few, dopplegangers of a specific form. These illusions hold quality over quantity; and therefore they have close to the same strength of the original figure copied. August can also use their illusions for mirage like effects.

Falke der Herrscher is the warrior of September and manipulator of Telekinetics— the ability to access to the mind, create mental forums, mental barriers and travel into the subconscious of others in order to gain information.


Isabelle Gentile—the opposite of Jason—is October. She controls shadow Illusions: Conjuring massive amounts of dopplegangers of a specific form also, but her power values quantity over quality. The illusions are significantly weaker than the original figure but can over power with numbers. She can use her powers to conceal also.

Autumn Jones—November—has connections to the Spirit world, can manipulate energy force, and can communicate with the dead. And she has a thing for tarot cards too.

And then there’s Lux Adair—the woman of December—snow and ice.

Now that you are all best friends, let’s go ahead and get to the inn, today is going to be one of the rare nights where you get to bond like normal teenagers,” he said as he marched towards the village’s entrance arch.

Lux had woken up to grass under her feet and others waking up as well. It appeared that the Asian teen that she had dragged through with her was awake as well, a small sigh leaving her. Everyone was here except... the male with the knife that had killed the cyclopean and saved their lives somewhat. Allowing her nutmeg hues to flicker across the landscape, Lux slowly stood and strolled forward.

Tossing her hair over her shoulder, the actress let out a deep sigh. The air here was pure, almost burning in fact, compared to the clogged air of the New York City landscape. Her interest was peaked as a general-like figure appeared before them, explaining things to the blonde who was stuck in the tree. At the mention of the others names, a guardian, the seventeen year old could barely try to hide the coy smile that curled up her lips once more. "Pleasure to meet you all." She greeted the moment Haru had finished introducing the group.

She could barely feel her feet against the soft green grass of the valley as she sped walked to keep up with the man's pace. The entrance arch intrigued Lux some, but what was the best was lay beyond it. And to be honest, she was ready for that stay in an inn. Her whole body was aching from the landing, and she was definitely growing tired.

Harper woke up somewhere in between "I'm Haru Karaknov" and "handpicked by the goddess." Harper was never one to wake up easily, and it took him several seconds just to keep his eyes open and register the clean, blue sky above him.

He registered "I'm not sure when the others will show up" and definitely woke up at "could be months, maybe later even."

"Woah, woah, woah!" Harper exclaimed, sitting up, "Months?!"

And then he blinked, the pastoral scenery surrounding him entirely.

With a shout, Harper leaped to his feet, spinning around in disbelief. He almost lost his balance, jeans still stiff from the water. "What the hell!?" he gasped. Where was the park? Where was the CITY?! Didn't that one girl say it was possible this was a dream? Why wasn't he back? Was this actually...was this actually happening?!?

"OHHHHhh My GoD!" Harper wailed, grabbing his damp locks and falling dramatically to his knees, "HOly sweet--Mary mother of JesusfrickinCHRIST"

Yeah, he had walked through that portal, but he didn't think anything would actually happen. This had to be a joke. A dream. That cyclopenis or peony or whatever the hell that was...that was also a joke, right? This wasn't real, right?

"Aaaauuughgh" he hissed gutturally, staring blankly at this foreign landscape. He heard footsteps and rustling and whipped around. Instead of an attacker he instead saw the 11 people walking away, 10 of which he recognized.

Not wanting to be left behind in this bizarre, crazy world, Harper quickly scrambled to his feet and raced after the group, imagining one of those cyclone-monsters leaping out under ever blade of grass. He ended up diving through the middle, forcing himself to skid to a halt before crashing entirely with the person in front of him, but still bumping them slightly.

The guy in the front seemed to know where he was going, some red-headed dude dressed in weird clothes. Harper just followed along, but was surprised to suddenly hear his name. "What?" he asked without thinking, and was answered with "sea and salt water instead."

It took him until Autumn Jones to realize the guy was saying everyone's names, a month, and then some sort of ability. When he finished, Harper raised his hand and asked, "Hey, can you repeat all of that please? I didn't realize what you were doing until just now."

As they entered the town, the change in scenery became more evident. Crowds began to form, and modest wooden buildings began to sprout.
Tallyho choked a little bit when she felt a force from behind bump her forward. She grunted quietly as she glanced back at the loud one, or er, Harper?
Not even an apology?
Before leading the children into the crowds, Haru made a point of stopping the group.

“Now here’s a little lesson about Aires. They don’t have the same technologies that earth does. No cell phones, no cameras, no computers. So it would be in your best interest if you keep your electronic devices as well out of the way as possible while we are in here. Though… it’s not like they can help you here anyway. We need to speed through here because; well most of you are dressed outlandishly for this world. But we will get that fixed soon,“he said sternly.
He gave a quick, enthusicastic point at Harper, “Well I can’t really do that now, but you will definitely get a chance to mingle and make friends when we get to a room.”
With that, Haru lead the group to the village square. It was the same village that Tallyho was in before she arrived on earth. The small shops like bakeries and butcheries were beginning to close and honest workers were locking their business doors.

Mothers were fixing their daughter’s bows and bonnets as they dragged them on home. And the much too ripe—maybe even a little rotten—bachelors were moving into the taverns.

“Oh and ladies,” Haru said, “I need to tell you now before you cause a commotion tomorrow. It’s not necessarily normal for women to wear pants and such around here and it really makes you stand out if you are. Although you boys don’t seem to be fitting in either, tomorrow I’m going to give you all money to go to the markets and buy clothes that are more fitting for the area. This is Tabbard, a pleasant little town the women are pretty modest. They wear sundresses, aprons, nothing too short—something very agrarian and simple. The men are not particularly extravagant either. They are dressed pretty plainly as you can see. A simple shirt and pants, so not quite a suit like mine. But I’m sure it’s much more comfortable.”

He lead them into the inn, and of course they looked rather odd travelling as a large herd.
The inside of the inn was quite cozy. At the front, there was a simple wooden desk with a shelf of keys behind it. Adjacent to the desk was a stone fireplace on a wall that led to an oaky dining area open to the guests.
The woman at the desk had mousy brown hair and a nervous twitch to her hands. She nearly dropped the keys she was organizing when they came into the building.

“Hello sir,” she said to Haru who she automatically assumed as the one paying.
“Hello there. Do you have enough space for twelve?”
The woman bit the inside of the cheek as the thought. “Ah well I’m afraid that we only have one regular room available sir.”
“Ah, I see, well then good tidings,” he said as he turned to leave.
“Oh but we do have the big room available!” she yelped.
“A larger room?”
“Oh yes, in the attic. We have a large set up of beds up there for missionary groups who come through. You can have that if you’re willing to pay the sum.”
Haru laughed, “Oh that won’t be a problem, here you go. I’ll take the smaller room too.”
He set a heavy sack of coins on the desk. “This should cover it—keep it all.”
The woman shook her head, “But sir I’m afraid that’s too much—“
“It’s fine. If you want, I’ll get my change at the end of the stay. But right now my friends and I are a bit tired. They’ve endured a long day. So could we please have the keys?”
The woman nodded once, “of course,” and she handed two keys to Haru, one of which he gave to Tallyho to open the group’s door.

“Now to get to your room you need to continue up the steps until you are running into the ceiling. There is a floor door that you will open to access the room,” she said. Tallyho nodded and started up the stairs, disappearing around its dark velvet corner.
The woman questioned Haru’s owl.
“I assure you she is very well trained,” he said.

Tallyho kept climbing; finally beat by the time she reached the third flight but luckily that’s all she had to climb for the latch was insight.

She stuck the rusted key in the lock and turned it before pushing the door up and open—climbing through. She was taken to a plain, candle lit room with about twenty beds and night stands lined side to side all against all four walls. Without much thought, she claimed a bed by a window in the corner.

She was sure that she wouldn’t enjoy being cooped up in a room with so many. And besides, as earthlings, they probably identified with each other better than they could with her.

She wasn’t one to meet people around her age anyway, usually being surrounded by old people and children. She turned her back to the group and stared out of the window. She looked down and caught sight of the tavern doors opening for the night. She had a pretty good idea where she would be in an hour or two.

Harper followed the group up the stairs and into the room. His expectations were already ground level when he overheard 'attic' in what was apparently Westeros, what with no technology whatsoever. He had almost pulled out his phone too when whatshisface mentioned not to.

The attic, however, wasn't entirely terrible. He had certainly lived in worse. At least this room was large. 1, 2, 3...20 beds. Wow. In his first apartment he couldn't even fit one bed and had to sleep in the tub. Ah, memories...

He chose a bed somewhere in the middle, really just sitting down randomly, and tried to process everything in a way that made sense.

1. He was clearly not in New York City anymore. Or Earth, for that matter. This was just too big of a production for it to be faked. Somehow, for whatever reason, he was in a completely different world where people still probably thought the world was flat. Which it might be, in this world, for all he knew.

2. He could control seawater. And oceans. Apparently. Because why not.

3. Everyone else could also control something. But not seawater. That was only him.

4. Cyclopens came from this world. And he would probably see more. That was annoying.

5. He wouldn't see Sadie for quite some time.

and lastly, he'd be stuck with these punks in this world for quite some time...

He sighed. For all the protests he had made against coming here, it didn't seem to make a difference. Well, if he was going to be stuck here...might as well adapt. Without warning he pulled off his jacket, slinging it on the mattress, and then pulled off his hollister shirt, leaving behind only a white undershirt beneath which he tugged back down over his jeans.

Skylar had to walk a little faster to keep up with the rest of the group, grumbling to herself about getting the short genes in her family while the rest of her siblings seemed to tower over her like giants. She hated being so small, it made her feel like a twelve year old boy instead of a college student (which she had already been mistaken for once- an interaction that had not ended very well for the Empire State Building employee who had offered her a children’s discount).

The whole “getting to know the other month warriors” thing that Haru talked about didn’t worry Skylar much. She had always considered herself to be an outgoing person, probably due to the fact that she spent her childhood constantly trying to be noticed in the chaos of her family. Maybe she did come across as a little callous sometimes and maybe she did have a problem filtering herself, but she never had a problem with talking to people.

After finally getting to the top of the stairs in the inn, Skylar stumbled into the attic after Tallyho. There was the obligatory musty smell in the air that all attics seemed to have, ten beds lined up against each wall. Not really giving much thought to where she was going to sleep, she dropped her things down on a bed towards the middle of the room. Raising a brow in Harper’s direction as he proceeded to remove his shirt, she walked over to where Tallyho was standing.

“Hi!” She said, trying not to come off as too enthusiastic. “I just wanted to say thanks for telling Harper off back in the Core. Man, did you see his face when you smacked him? God, that was incredible,” She grinned. “Anyway, I know Haru introduced everyone already but I’m Skylar.”

Haru raised an eyebrow and turned the face the shorter male.

“If you want me to repeat all of that, could we tackle it a little bit later? We both know that it is a mouthful.”
He turned back towards the desk briefly before looking back at Kyle again.

“If you’re asking about the other warrior, Dorian, I have that covered. The portals only dump people in empty spaces like valleys and clearings. I’m making arrangements for a contact of mine to locate him as it’s impossible for me to do it since I need to handle this group and taking you out on a wild goose chase wont prepare you for anything. Time is limited.”

Haru was a fast talker. He barely gave the boy a silent moment before he was heading out of the door.

“Tell your people to get ready to eat and come to Mackal’s Tavern across the quad. I’m going to go pay for dinner in advance. See ya,” and with that, Haru sashayed out of the inn towards the busy tavern.

Tallyho rolled her eyes at Harper. She had already seen too much of his personality today, she wasn’t really interested in seeing much more. Her contemplation of jabbing him in the throat was interrupted by a few kind words from a brunette girl from the tree incident.

The blonde was surprised to say the least. She hadn’t expected any of the earthlings to offer her a passing glance.
She wanted to elaborate on the Harper incident, to tell her that he had it coming, but with him in earshot, maybe it wasn’t the best idea. Instead, a sly, crooked smile washed over her face for a brief moments at a time.

“I’m Tallyho,” she said, “I’m… From here, I suppose.”

She wasn’t sure what to say after that. But she felt obligated to keep the conversation going.

“I uh… You people dress funny.”

Her voice wasn’t very sharp, and she didn’t really mean to sound malicious, but honestly, Tallyho couldn’t get over all of the pairs of tight blue pants.

Falke remained silent, weary but thoughtful and honestly a little annoyed, throughout and after the yelling demands and hissing insults floating about amongst members of this so called 'team'. Destiny by itself was one rather hard pill too swallow on it's own. But another, well, being stuck with this lot of likely and undoubtedly insane lunatics wasn't a very appetizing thought to stomach either, especially considering how easily and quickly they went at one another's throats. Given that, he wasn't keen to voice his own thoughts or a possible decision on the matter at hand, mostly to keep the fore-mentioned 'hounds' at bay and save him the trouble of tripping over himself attempting to argue in a language that was still unfamiliar generally to his tongue. While it seemed that his given silence seemed to be working in his favor in the long run, because no one seemed to notice him standing there off in the back and too the side alone, and no one had come up to bother him about his own yet to be made (verbally, or not...) decision. But of course, his luck had run out and the supposed 'peace' he felt didn't last for long...

His shoulder's jerked as a twitch ran along down their length in response to a gentle, but rather unexpected tap on his shoulder blade, and a surprised hiss escaped his lips. Falke had already taken two harried steps backward in flight, before her voice, well he assumed a she because of how she sounded, interrupted his 'escape' and asked him a simple, almost hesitant question. "Hey, are you coming?" Was he? Good question. Blearily he scanned his surroundings, focusing on the general direction the others echoing, then abruptly disappearing footsteps, were heading, and then focused or well, attempted to focus somewhere above where her voice had come from nearby - but for all he knew he could be looking in an opposite direction. "Yes, I-... I was just thinking." He hummed softly in response. His thick German accent was heavy with a brassy touch, and seemed to be mauling the words a little as he spoke but it all still intelligible enough though still. Alright, fine. His decision had been made, though he necessarily didn't fully agree with it, but he put it out of his mind for now (it would do no sense in chewing cud over it). The stone trapped in the bounds of the ring on his finger, came to life with a faint, barely noticeable glow - likely a testament to his rather what could be called a wishy-washy decision at best, or to be simply be nice about it. While his decision was made, he still hesitated before following 'blindly'. "I'll follow after you," He added, before she could ask if he needed help. She agreed, turning around and lead the way, Falke reluctantly following behind like he said he would. She slipped through the portal to the other world, and paused momentarily before doing the same - allowing him to be the last left in this cold, empty, in-between place. He frowned, eyes narrowed as he sightlessly tried to size up what was just in front of him, the golden portal. The humming was louder now this close and that he was facing it, an odd queasy feeling came from it rolling around in his gut. "Here goes nothing..." He muttered to himself. Confidently he stepped forward, the light seemingly liquid pressing tightly against his body, and then nothing for the second time that day...

The second time he "woke up", he'd landed on his back, and slowly he shoved himself into a sitting position with a low, nearly inaudible groan. Okay. He really could deal with a little less of this brain meddling, teleporting, or what ever you'd call it, nonsense. Blinking, he glanced around. Nostrils flaring. He felt soft greenery tickling between his fingers, very overgrown grass. The air seemed cleaner, gentler. Well, where ever they'd ended up this time, it wasn't anywhere close to Central Park, or even New York for that matter. Aires then, alright. And then there was the matter when his brain finally caught up and was able to process what his ears were hearing from a man named Haru, Falke just sat there, not bothering to get up just yet. Trying to process all the information he was getting, with some success. In sort order, himself and the others (minus a missing Dorian), following this supposed guardian, unwilling mostly except for the promise of food and shelter, and hopefully to figure out more of how this all worked...

He didn't mind Haru's noting of names, and powers, and certain quirks or items they possessed. It was interesting in the scheme of things, and he wouldn't be one to ignore any information given (especially considering the mess-, situation they were now in). And all though it would be harder for him to start putting names to "voices", it was nice to have the names at least starting out. They continued into town until stopping at the inn, and that they had the attic available for then teens - the other room he assumed was for Haru, and his owl. And while some of the teens cringed at the thought of an attic, the spider-webs, dust, etc, that were often associated with an attic, Falke more so mentally cringed at how many flights of stairs he'd need to climb to get up there. Stair's were his bane; he tripped going down them, and going up them. But despite his worries, he made it up all three flights, without a trip that would send him to break his fool neck. And upon coming into the room, the first bed he quite literally ran into, he just claimed as his. He sat down, uneasily. Seemingly attempting to watch everything and everyone at the same time, with his wide, veiled eyes, without the ability the focus on anything. He remained silent, not honestly one to break any ice, or talk in general pretty much...

---

The owl twitching about on the ginger man's shoulders, seemed just as fine-feathered as the clothes the man wore. It's basic build to be something like that of the North American Snowy Owl: Its wings (a grand 5-foot wingspan) seemed a little to large for its smaller albeit lean seeming body. A beak of rough gold, and talons the same hue, glinted eagerly in the sunshine, it's own natural weapons of a sort. His feathers were a fair and pure white mostly, but tarnished honey strips and stripes clashed across it in an interesting display. Frightening, if only because of the intensity they held, gray-blue eyes (odd for an owl to have, instead of the normal yellow/orange) unnervingly focused on each member of the group, seemingly assessing them, as it's owner walked confidently down the hill to great them. When Haru began laughing, a soft, but particularly merry, cooing sound echoed from around it's beak, laughing in it's own way right along with him. When he stopped laughing and reached up to rub the back of it's head, the owl's "laughter" ceased but it's lids dropped over it's haunting gaze in pleasure of the scratch. When he moved forward suddenly, one of it's great wings flashed out to kept it's balance on it's moving perch, lids snapping open and intently focused on the the girl's who's necklace he held clasped in his hand. Prepared when he moved back, it's balance not bothered, it crouched slightly and leaned forward, alarmingly as if trying to get a good look at the girl itself. “Ah so she’s mine then… Isn't that interesting, Lillian?” Haru had mused to her, and Lillian, now named, hooted in confirmation. She moved back to her original position, her assessment done, standing quite regally if eerily silent. Her head tilted listening, as Haru continued, “Hey, aren’t there supposed to be twelve of you…? It seems that the March Warrior was mis-transported... Lillian, why don’t you send word up to Ryou?” Lillian twittered softly in response, almost as if she was that she'd be back as soon as she was able too. Spreading her large wings, she confidently leapt off Haru's shoulder. With heavy flaps she rose slowly as close as she was to the ground, until a gentle breeze caught a wing a spun her farther upward - swirling a few times in a circle above the rag-tag group to gain further height and her bearings, before she got a well-moving current of wind. Flashing off, and was but a distance speck of white in moments. Going to the person, Ryou, Haru had named, to fix the issue with Dorian's mis-teleportation.

"um...Okay." Darn! He wasn't used to this. Kyle usually didn't have problems keeping up with people, but he was certainly having trouble keeping up with Haru. At least he knew that someone was going to look for Dorian, and he hoped that the guy would be okay. Even if the redhead didn't send someone, he didn't give Kyle a chance to argue the issue anyway. The boy wasn't sure how he felt about that.

With Haru gone to the tavern, and pretty much everyone else gone to the room, There was only one thing left to do. What were the directions the lady gave? Three flights of stairs and a trap door in the ceiling? Considering she also said it's an attic, that did make sense, and Kyle wasn't sure how he felt about that either. Beggars can't be choosers, so he'd just have to deal with it. With a deep breath, he started purposely towards the stairs, but on passing the desk lady again, he gave a brief smile and bowed his head in her direction.

One...Two...Three, there was the door. Up the final ladder he popped his head into the room with a quick glance over all the beds. He'd think about that when they got back from dinner. "Umm... Mr. Haru said to meet him across the quad for dinner at Mackal's Tavern. He went on ahead to make arrangements." His job done he lowered himself down the ladder so he wouldn't be in the way of the others, two of which immediately rushed down.

Tallyho listened to, Autumn (at least that’s what she thought her name was), briefly explain the clothing situation on Earth.
“What a strange style—is it uncomfortable?” she asked, a look of genuine curiosity flashed in the lights of her eyes.

It was then that the shorter boy—Kyle was his name—peaked out from the floor door to inform them of their meal.

“Oh thank the Goddess,” The blonde huffed as she stood up, immediately cutting ties with all conversation. She was starving—just starving—she took another glance outside of the window to see the nightlife glowing from the tavern porch.

In the glass she caught a gander of her reflection and boy did she look a mess with her dust tanned face, and her hair harboring pieces of nature as it splayed about her crown and knotted at the name of her neck. She decided that a bath would be her first course of action.

Besides, she caught sight of the inn’s well when they first approached the building.

“You guys go ahead. I’m going to freshen up. Tell him I should be down in thirty minutes,” she mumbled as she scooped a wooden bucket from the corner of the room and into her arms. Hopefully the second floor’s washroom tub wasn’t too big, and she could fill it up after five trips.

“Just head on across the way, and don’t look at anybody for Aires’ sake,” she huffed as she made her way towards the exit, knowing well the anger of drunk Solacian.